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Opinion Contributor

The NRA takes GOP hostage

Let’s not pretend this was about Second Amendment rights, the author says. | AP Photo

In fact, what happened was not about stopping a Congress that was on the verge of doing something rash that would have had wide, long-lasting, and unknown repercussions. This was about stopping Congress from doing the absolute bare minimum.

Yes, in America we respect the Constitution and the Second Amendment. We mistrust government power and reactionary legislation in the heat of tragedy. But sometimes an issue is so obvious, so plainly obvious to everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike, that nearly 90 percent of us can agree. 90 percent! Name one other issue in America right now where nearly 90 percent of us agree. You can’t get 90 percent of Americans to agree on what country our president is from.

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But the vast overwhelming majority of us agreed on this one. We felt that maybe the pendulum should swing — even if ever-so-slightly — towards some sensible limitations after Sandy Hook and that buying a gun should be a bit harder than buying eggs at the grocery store.

One organization with a lot of money and resources and whose constituents include powerful gun manufacturers said “no way” though. Their unofficial position has become absolute opposition to any restriction on gun use or ownership whatsoever, no matter how trivial, how necessary, how sensible, or how many Americans support it. That organization effectively voted for many Republicans in the Senate yesterday. As a fellow Republican who doesn’t want to see the party reduced to a regional sideshow, I am disgusted.

Brett Joshpe is an attorney and author in New York City and principal of Joshpe Law Group LLP.